PART 2 ~ Lightness, Dressage and Philippe Karl.
Written by Pip Easton (4^th February, 2009).

Still amazed by watching the eight days of two Teachers Clinics with Philippe Karl in Stuttgart and Zurich, August 2008, the real test for me came when I started riding horses already trained in Philippe Karl's Classical Dressage method.

When I say I was lucky to ride a Grand Prix Lusitano Stallion and FEEL the lightness ~ it was more than luck ~ it was a privilege! And I'll be forever grateful to Sylvia Stössel in Zurich for the experience. Sylvia Stössel trained Bajo for ten years with Philippe Karl and told me to sit there and "let him do". It was a sobering moment when I realised that my 'passive' riding was actually cueing this super light horse into travers in walk! I had to take me legs OFF and let him just walk; without touching anything or aiding him in any way or fiddling with a thing!

BIG learning curve and Sylvia said, "lightness is lightness in every way to every aid and when you want him to go it should be immediate but when he's doing, you must be still."  Bajo was a very well trained horse not only in lightness but in the correctness of his buttons. Sylvia explained exactly where to press and how,  and what impressed me the most was that he was responsive, calm, happy and quiet in his work. There was no tension anywhere in his body or mouth and he was so light to ride that we only had to say, "flying changes across the diagonal" and he would do them! I felt very FREE.

It was beautiful. Bajo was happy to carry me in oneness with him and I thought to myself after the lesson as I sat, letting the twenty year old stallion graze on the lush green grass and relax with the warm sun on our backs; that fine, blue skied day in Switzerland, that THAT was how is should be...

So onto Germany's north and riding the lovely liver chestnut Rubinstein stallion of Sibylle Weimer's. Rosarion made me realise how easy it is to ride Philippe Karl's way ~ the logic, the lightness and the understanding of the hand and contact. I encountered my first lesson of real flexion and counter-bend and learnt so much about the balance of the horse, both from the left and right side of him and the up and down use of his neck. With the upward action of the rein at halt, Rosarion would automatically shift his weight from his shoulders to hind quarters which felt like power steering in front with such self carriage.

Rosarion would maintain this position in very free flowing shoulder-in and travers in trot and he would then be happy to stretch his neck forward and out into a more ground covering trot, as a reward. The counter bends gave me a feeling of re-alignment control in making him straighter and by flexing the horse to the outside of a twenty metre circle at trot, I also felt a big connection in ultimate balance and suppleness. Being ABLE to get sure-footed serpentines and figure of eights without any loss of power or balance was sweet, smooth riding, (an experience which takes practice to re-create).

Nicole Weinauge from Hamburg who is coming to Perth, Australia over Easter this year (April 2009) to give sixteen lucky riders the first ever clinic in Australia, gave me a fantastic understanding of the communication of the reins with the horse seeking the light contact. As a qualified Philippe Karl instructor, Nicole Weinauge worked in hand with Rosarion first to determine his level of understanding, rode him in flexions left and right to gain more suppleness and once she figured out the feeling he was giving the rider, put me on again and quickly and efficiently corrected my riding to keep the horse more light, free moving and in balance. The feeling of his back swinging happily underneath me and the light power steering in front gave me that freedom and oneness with the horse sensation again! Quite effortless.

Quite a contradiction in my mind's eye of what I believed Dressage riding to be based on the visions I had of having to be super fit and strong and decisive! Those images vanished into thin air when I realised that by letting the horse "do", it opened up a space of quiet... and the less I did and let the horse do the work, the more effortless it all became. Not to mention peaceful and enjoyable.

I understand now that by working slowly with the brain of the horse at very slow walk for the lateral movements and putting in place suppling exercises and weight shifting exercises the horses natural movement comes freely and he seems to float through the 'difficult' requests easier and happier. And we all know that when we have the mind of the horse with us, we have harmony and ease, which builds the trust every ride. A much faster system with less hours of excessive trot and canter which doesn't seem to teach anything much.

It's a changing time and the beauty in all of this for me is the calm confidence the horses have and exude in this training method. It seems to be a stamp of quality across the board and when the horse comprehends the contact (rein aids), leg aids, weight aids and balance. It all seems to come together more automatically which is fantastic and rewarding for the rider AND the horse!

When my final stop sent me to stay with Sabine Mosen, south of Hannover, I learnt so much more of the reasons why Philippe Karl's work is being vacuumed up with such enthusiasm in Europe. Sabine allowed me to ride her sprightly grey Trakehner gelding who'd been trained under Philippe Karl for ten years. Eiskonig taught me about the correctness within this method. For instance, re-balancing and suppling the left and right sides of the horse in shoulder-in, travers and renvers and lightness to the aids for fast, easy results.

The reasons behind teaching a horse (Philippe Karl's) flying changes by using travers canter left (on the left 20m circle for example), walk; renvers canter right, (remaining on the left rein) and back again, gradually flying through the transition when the horse was really ready, is because it's a logical progression of transitions which gives the horse time to balance, be supple, wait, listen and stay light which then creates clean flying changes from the start. Philippe Karl's system is like building blocks which sets the horse up for future ease in the movements.

Sabine made me concentrate on exactly what my body was doing on her very clever horse which in turn gave me the feeling of being part of a brilliant systematic training style of which I, (the novice rider) could teach my own horses.

Sabine's other Warmblood gelding was a rescue case from the butcher, but a very intense story of hope. Sabine acquired this beautiful bay, as he had developed damage to his neck and back (kissing spine), by being ridden by 'professionals' in Rollkur. He was in so much pain that he became very LOUD with his objections of being forced in this manner and was rearing and deemed unrideable in the stables of a top Dressage rider.

Sabine has rehabilitated his trust and his understanding of the contact by riding him gently and with an immense amount of compassion in the Philippe Karl way. He was a young Dressage horse, fourth place getter behind three stallions as a four year old and went on to be  broken and left as useless from years of forceful riding and wrong positioning, as is being seen today across the world in Show Jumping AND Dressage.

With his lovely swinging movement and big natural rhythm, this lucky horse is now happy and being trained and treated properly, respectfully and honestly. His trust is becoming stronger every ride and his flying changes are coming beautifully. This is one of many desperate horses stories in Europe being saved from the competition forces of the Dressage world and realigned with true centuries-old Classical and beautiful Dressage via Philippe Karl's School of Lightness ~ The Philosophy of Ease.

It's exciting times ahead with a trainer who knows how to make even ordinary horses dance. The balance, lightness and self carriage I am now feeling on my own Warmbloods at home is proof enough that Philippe Karl's calm approach of gentle understanding with the horse is the right track to be on.

Dressage article series: What is Dressage ~ Part 1 « Part 2 » Part 3

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